Ethnic conflict is one
of the major challenges in
the OSCE area: A child
refugee from Kosovo
which do not only concern the relationship between governments and citizens, but beyond that regulate in great
detail questions relating to constitutional systems and the
interaction between state institutions. This far-reaching
concept reflects the conviction that a functioning democratic
system based on the rule of law is a necessary precondition
for the respect for human rights. The CSCE also played a
pioneering role in developing basic standards for democratic
elections and for the protection of national minorities.
In the Moscow Document, adopted in the wake of the failed
August 1991 coup attempt, another important innovation of
the Helsinki process was explicitly confirmed. The governments “categorically and unequivocally” declared that the
commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension were “matters of direct and legitimate concern to all
participating States” and therefore were not confined exclusively to the internal affairs of the state concerned. In other
words, the CSCE countries mutually conceded to allow each
other to butt in whenever human rights are violated anywhere in the CSCE area.
standard-setting to implementation. It also led to a gradual
institutionalization of the CSCE process which to date had
been a loose sequence of conferences. By 1994, the CSCE
was transformed into an operational international organization with permanent structures, institutions and instru
ments. This development was reflected in the decision of
the 1994 Budapest Summit to rename the CSCE the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Soon after the Paris Summit, which was so much marked
by post cold war euphoria, it became evident that with the
end of the division of Europe not all problems disappeared.
To the contrary, the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the
Soviet Union brought a number of hidden conflicts back to
the surface and constituted a new and very serious threat
to European security. The attempts to cope with the new
challenges led to a shift of focus in the CSCE’s work from
OSCE institutions such as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw, the High
Commissioner on National Minorities in the Hague and the
Representative on Freedom of the Media in Vienna were
created to assist the participating States with implementing
their commitments. The OSCE chairmanship, in charge of
co-ordinating ongoing affairs, can raise human rights issues
of concern with the relevant governments at the highest
Today, a number of forums and institutions within the
OSCE’s newly developed institutional framework deal with
further refining the commitments, monitoring their implementation, or assisting the participating States with putting
the commitments into practice. These include the political
decision-making bodies: Summits, Ministerial Council meetings, as well as the Permanent Council in Vienna, which
provides a permanent forum for the discussion of human
rights issues. Annual Human Dimension Implementation
Meetings scrutinize the progress made by participating
States in implementing their commitments.
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